Little Gems - Hector's House Little Gems Click above for start theme music (zipped Wav) Click below for end theme music (zipped Wav) Original French Titles Hector's House This may probably be one of the first true puppet series that people born in the 1960s will remember vividly. Hector's House was first shown on television by the BBC on Monday 09th September 1968 (thanks to John Archbold). I certainly remember it from 1971 when I am told I was riveted to the television screen of a late afternoon. It tended to be placed just before the news on a week day. Although Hector, ZaZa and Kiki (the only three characters in the series) had British accents, the program was actually produced in France. Evidence for this is with some of the signs in the series such as the name on Hector's shed and the game Kiki brings over the wall with her. Further evidence is shown in the way the garden is constructed (they have a walnut tree in the garden amongst other exotic plants) , especially the large wall which Kiki regularly appears over. The dress sense of the animals also suggests something not quite British about the show.

The last episode was televised on Thursday January 08th 1970. A total of 78 episodes were shown by the BBC. The series concerned the adventures of Hector the dog, ZaZa the cat and Kiki the annoying frog (she was actually referred to as Mrs. Frog, by Hector in early episodes). I've lost count of the number of times I have wanted to strangle that rotten frog. Hector and ZaZa lived in the big house, a house with a magnificent garden. Hector did have a kennel though, to which he would visit when he wanted to think, meditate or be alone. The kennel was made of wood, painted white and was situated in the garden (although it did move once or twice). Kiki the frog lived next door and in every episode she would appear on top of the wall perched on a very tall ladder. She would then enter Hector's garden via a hole in the wall. Hector must've had a screw loose here because that hole could easily have been filled up to stop that green pest from coming round. ZaZa and Kiki were friends however, so I suppose Hector only tolerated Kiki because of not wanting to upset ZaZa.

I don't know what the relationship between Hector and ZaZa was but they did sleep in different bedrooms. How the hell do I know that - well in the episode "A song at night," Hector turns off his bedroom light which is then followed by ZaZa's bedroom light after which she slips out of the house without Hector noticing. Each episode started with the bird singing in the garden and always ended with Hector saying a similar expression such as "I'm a great big silly old Hector." No credits were ever shown at the end of each episode. Full listing of "Hector's House" from the RadioTimes (Many thanks to John Archbold for the information) Transmission Date Other episodes included :- A mysterious visit Hector and ZaZa begin work on their garden but Hector is disturbed to find a small hat on his plants. Who could it belong to ? Good Morning Frog Kiki finds a small hole in the wall of Hector's garden. She goes off in search of her favourite little hat. A Strange Stranger Hector gets upset when Kiki and ZaZa do not believe he has a Scottish Cousin and relatives all over the world. The Three Christmas Trees Hector, ZaZa and Kiki each buy a fur tree as a surprise for each other.

As usual chaos reigns for Hector when he starts seeing trees multiplying. The Marvellous Invention Hector is busy inventing a complicated gadget. Kiki and ZaZa play on the swing as they will not understand it, he tells them. Silence is Golden Hector is very irritable. He cannot stand any noise and gets very annoyed when he tries to meditate but keeps getting disturbed. A Song at Night ZaZa goes for a midnight walk in the moonlight. She sings a song as she walks in the garden with a candle. Hector is too Late Hector and ZaZa are cutting wood for the Winter. Kiki helps with the wood stacking. Hector gets a bit annoyed with all the chatting and messing around. The Brave Fireman Hector is busy filling buckets with water. He is having a fire drill. We also notice that Hector starts calling Mrs. Frog, Kiki. The Bell Hector wants ZaZa's bell. He wants to hang it on the gate. He then blocks the hole with a barrel to stop Kiki coming in and so forces her to use the gate with the new bell. Operation Survival Hector eats the cheese that ZaZa was saving.

Hector states that he can go without food if he wants to. He decides to live on a shipwrecked island like a stranded man would in order to prove he can go without food. The Letterbox Hector is bored. So bored, in fact, that he calls for Kiki to entertain him. She brings along her letters that have just arrived from her family in America. A Good Remedy Where is everyone ? Kiki cannot see anyone in the garden. Both Hector and ZaZa have been eating nuts and they have toothache. Kiki comes round to keep them company by playing games. The Quarrel Nut cracking for everyone. The Walnut tree is ripe for picking and Kiki comes round to help harvest the crop. Treetop Kiki ZaZa and Kiki are playing but Hector is getting very annoyed. The girls have trampled on the vegetable garden. Photography Hector wants to take ZaZa and Kiki's picture. As usual things do not end up as planned. The Weather Forecaster Hector is gathering in the hay. He gets a bit superstitious when ZaZa puts her paw behind her ear. He says that whenever she does that, the rain starts.

The Botanist Hector does not know the type of plant ZaZa has. She leaves it with him whilst she goes and looks for some others for her collection. Hector likes collecting things as well. The Soap Hector is busy in the garden. He is getting very dirty and so decides he needs a bath. He sneaks into the house and gets all he needs but forgets the soap. The pond will make a fine bath. The Sweater ZaZa is making a sweater for Hector. He is very impatient though for her to finish the knitting. Piggy Bank Hector has bought a present for everyone after having been shopping in town. What could he have bought them ? A piggy bank ! The Well The trio are playing with a ball in the garden. The ball ends up in the garden well. How ever will they get it back ? Deep Sleep Hector is having a nap in the garden. ZaZa does not want to sleep and so does her best to annoy Hector. Hector is furious especially when Kiki does not believe him about ZaZa's behaviour. The Kennel Hector relocates his kennel underneath the Apple tree. He then wants a nap while ZaZa and Kiki climb the tree to admire the view.

The Funnel Hector is doing DIY again. He makes Kiki a chair but forgets about a nail. She goes and gets his tools but ends up spending more time in the shed than Hector bargained for. Jealousy Hector is busy repairing things. Kiki is not at all appreciative but thinks that ZaZa is wonderful in whatever she does. Playing Tag Hector is bored. The others offer suggestions of what they could do. Hector wants to play hide and seek. Kiki has never played it before though. The Thistles Hector is pleased to see Kiki (odd thing). She comes into the garden and Hector shows her round the new vegetables that have grown. Happy Returns Hector, ZaZa and Kiki are in Hector's car travelling outside the garden (very rare). Hector is very pleased to be back having been away for so long. Time to start work on the garden again. Hector Never Forgets Hector is relieved to be back home after a long walk to town again. ZaZa and Kiki notice that he has forgotten several things. He will have to do something about his bad memory.

Credits TV ARK | Children's TV | BBC Programmes A-L The Adventures of Spot 1987 David McKee's King Rollo Films adapted stories from Eric Hill's books for a 26-part cartoon series, produced in 1987 and 1993. The series narrator was Paul Nicholas. The Amazing Adventures of Morph 1980 Morph and his friends Chas, Nailbrush, Gillespie, Folly and Delilah, got their own spin-off series from 'Take Hart'. Tony Hart introduced. 26 5-minute episodes were produced between 1980 and 1981. Andy Pandy 1952 Created by Maria Bird and Freda Lingstorm, and produced by the BBC Film Unit, Andy Pandy was first shown in 1950. Only 26 episodes were made, but they were repeated endlessly until 1969. Andy Pandy was the Watch With Mother programme for Tuesdays. Animal Magic 1982 The voice of the animals, Johnny Morris, presented this wildlife series from 1962 until 1983.

The series is best remembered for the films Johnny made, mainly at Bristol Zoo, where he would give the animals in the films comical voices. Bagpuss 1973 Created by Peter Firman and Oliver Postgate, Bagpuss was an old, saggy cloth cat who lived in magical Lost & Found shop. The shop owner was a young girl called Emily, who left things she'd found in there for repair. Alongside Bagpuss was Professor Yaffle, Madeleine the ragdoll, Gabrielle the toad and the Mice on the Mechanical Mouse Organ. Bananaman 1983 With voices by The Goodies (Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie), this popular cartoon followed the adventures of Eric Twinge, who would transform into the superhero after eating a banana. The Basil Brush Show 1972 Initially assisted by Mr Derek (Derek Fowlds), Basil Brush appeared in his original TV show which began in 1969. Numerous other co-hosts joined Basil throughout the show's 11-year run, including Roy North, Howard Williams and Billy Boyle.

Bertha 1985 Bertha was an old fashioned factory machine with some very special qualities. She was the star performer of Spottiswood Factory and with the help of her friends, managed to solve all the everyday problems they came across. Blue Peter 1972 Blue Peter started in 1958 and was only meant to be on for Seven Weeks. The programme is still going on strong more than 40 years later. This clip from 1972 features the famous line-up of Valerie Singleton, Peter Purves and John Noakes. Blue Peter 1985 This edition of the popular magazine show from 1985 is hosted by Simon Groom, Janet Ellis and Michael Sundin. Bod 1975 The adventures of Bod and his friends (namely Aunt Flo, PC Copper, Farmer Barleymow and Frank the Postman). The series ran for 13 episodes in 1975, and was narrated by the inimitable John Le Mesurier. Maggie Henderson provided the voice for Alberto Frog and his Animal Band segment.

Camberwick Green 1966 The first installment in Gordon Murray's puppet trilogy, this series gave children an insight into the lives of the folk of Camberwick Green, a small village deep in the English countryside. Famous villagers included Windy Miller, Roger Varley the chimney sweep, Mrs Honeyman the gossip and Captain Snort with the galliant lads of Pippin Fort. Chigley 1969 Chigley - the third installment in the Murray puppet trilogy - was described as being 'near Camberwick Green, Trumptonshire'. More pastural than Murray's previous series, it featured a biscuit factory, Treadle's Wharf, a pottery and a stately home. Characters included Lord Belborough and Chippy Minton. The Clangers 1969 The Clangers were small, pink mousey-like creatures who lived on a strange blue planet. They spoke in whistles and lived inside the planet. Other inhabitants of the blue planet included Soup Dragon - who provided one of their two main food groups, and the orange Froglets.

Crackerjack 1975 The long-running live music and comedy show for kids, hosted by Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart, and assisted by Peter Glaze, Don Maclean and Jan Hunt. Crystal Tipps and Alistair 1972 A bushy-haired girl and her square-headed dog have various psychedelic adventures in this 5-minute cartoon produced by Q3 London, which was shown just before the BBC early evening news. 25 episodes were made. Emu's Broadcasting Company 1976 Rod Hull and his trusty Emu provide the continuity on EBC1, part of Emu's Broadcasting Company. The Family-Ness 1984 A family of Loch Ness Monsters make friends with two children, Angus and Elspeth, and together they have many exciting and unusual adventures. Fast Forward 1984 Children's sketch comedy featuring Floella Benjamin, Andrew Secombe, Joanna Munro and Nick Wilton. Three series and 19 episodes were produced between 1984 and 1987.

Fingerbobs 1971 Storyteller Yoffy (Rick Jones) brings Fingermouse to life, as well as a host of other finger puppets in this popular series, created by Joanne and Michael Cole. Only 13 episodes were produced in total, though they were repeated many times. Fireman Sam 1984 John Alderton narrates this S4C-produced cartoon, about a fireman who can, amongst other things, "put on his coat and hat in less than 7 seconds flat". Flower Pot Men 1953 Bill and Ben were the inhabitants of a pair of flower pots which sat at the bottom of the garden, separated by a little weed. Flower Pot Men was the Watch With Mother programme for Wednesdays.

The Flumps 1976 The Flumps consisted of Mother Flump (who was mostly in the kitchen), Father Flump (who was mostly in his allotment), Posie, Perkin and Pootle (who were the kids) and Grandfather Flump (who enjoyed nothing better than blowing his flumpet!) Fred Basset 1976 Bill 'Charlie Brown' Melendez turned this popular Daily Mail cartoon strip about a Basset Hound and his friends into a series of 5-minute cartoons. Going Live! 1988 Philip Schofield and Sarah Greene presented this fast-paced Saturday morning show, aided by comedians Trevor and Simon. Grange Hill 1984 The original opening titles from the long-running drama serial, set in a North London comprehensive school, used from 1979 until 1987. Hartbeat 1988 Artist Tony Hart's original solo series 'Take Hart' was followed in the 1980s by this new series which was co-presented by up-and-coming young artists, Joanna Kirk, Margot Wilson and Gabrielle Bradshaw.

Hector's House 1965 The domestic adventures of Hector the dog, Zaza the cat and Mrs Kiki the frog. 'Hector's House' was adapted from a French cartoon entitled 'La Maison de Tu Tu' created by Georges Croses Ivor The Engine 1976 The adventures of a little Welsh steam train and his driver, Jones the Steam. Produced between 1959 and 1963, it was first shown on Associated Rediffusion in the early 1960s, before transferring to BBC Television in 1976. Jackanory 1976 Jackanory ran from 1965 to 1996. It was shown on Monday through to Friday to allow a celebrity storyteller to read a book through the week. Jigsaw 1979 Word memory game presented by Adrian Hedley and Janet Ellis. Jig was the little piece of jigsaw who'd link together the various puzzles with a letter of the alphabet. Jigsaw 1984 A later series of the word memory game presented by Adrian Hedley and Julia Binsted (as Dot).

Jimbo and the Jetset 1986 Jimbo is a mini jumbo jet - in fact he's half the size he's supposed to be, due to an engineer mistaking inches for centimetres! A total of 25 episodes were broadcast between 1986 and 1987. Joe 1971 Narrated by Colin Jeavons, Joe was a little boy growing up in a big world! Originally shown as part of the 'Watch With Mother' strand, the second series of 'Joe' made in colour ran for 13 episodes. John Craven's Newsround 1976 Long-running BBC news magazine for young children, originally hosted by John Craven. When Craven left the programme in 1989 the title simply became 'Newsround'. Other hosts have included Paul McDowell, Juliet Morris, Helen Rollason and Krishnan Guru-Murthy. The opening theme tune is Ted Heath's 'Johnny One Note', while the closing theme is the last few bars of 'New Worlds' by John Baker. The clips featured are from the 5th April 1976 edition.

King Rollo 1979 The adventures of square-bearded King Rollo and his friends and neighbours, King Frank and Queen Gwen. Lizzie Dripping 1976 Lizzie Dripping (played by Tina Heath) is a dreamer, the kind of girl whose imagination is so vivid that she finds it difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is not. And to complicate matters she acquires her own personal witch! Ludwig 1977 Ludwig was an egg-shaped alien creature who landed on Earth and had a passion for the music of Beethoven. As Ludwig lived and played amongst the woodland animals, the mysterious man in the bushes kept an eye on things with his large binoculars. This page has been written and presented by Mark McMillan. The information presented on this page has been researched by me on behalf of TV ARK and is offered in good faith, correct to the best of my knowledge. If any factual errors have appeared here inadvertently, then I would be delighted to hear from anyone wishing to offer corrections. All opinions expressed are my own and no offence is intended.

Should they be a cause of concern or distress to any readers, please inform me immediately so that I can remove or amend them accordingly. TV SHOWS He to Hi | TVH TV Shows He to Hi HEARTBEAT (1992) British drama series set in the 1960s about a policeman in rural Yorkshire. Click Here for review HECKLE AND JECKLE (1946) Cartoon magpies created by Paul Terry one of the most prolific film producers in history having produced over 1300 cartoons between 1915 and 1955 including the many Terrytoons cartoons which also included Mighty Mouse, Gandy Goose, Sourpuss, Dinky Duck and Deputy Dawg. Heckle and Jeckle (whose names were inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's literary character Dr. Jekyll) first appeared in the 1946 short The Talking Magpies. Heckle had a Brooklyn accent and referred to his partner as 'chum' or 'pal' whilst the British spoken Jeckle referred to his friend as 'old chap.' The last original cartoon appeared in 1966.

Links: DVD Availibility: HECTOR'S HOUSE (1965) French series known in its native country as 'La Maison de Tu Tu', Hectors House featured a sad eyed dog, Zaza the cat, and Mrs Kiki the frog. The catchphrase for this particular show was the star's "I'm a great silly Hector." The episodes filled a spot (like Magic Roundabout) just before the early evening news. Another show that has generated an urban myth, this time that myth being that actress Joanna Lumley voiced Zaza the cat. The story became so widely known that it was accepted as fact. But the truth is, that the lovely Ms Lumley had nothing to do with the show whatsoever as she confirmed herself when the question was put to her. "It would have been lovely wouldn't it?" She said. "But no, it's not true.' Links: DVD Availibility: HELEN-A WOMAN OF TODAY (1973) After Helen Tulley (Alison Fiske) discovers that her husband, Frank (Martin Shaw), has been having an affair with another woman her friends and family urge her to forgive and forget and stand by her man.

Perhaps there was a time and a television drama when she would have done, but this was now the 1970s and there was an increasing awareness of the feminist movement, and so we see Helen bravely decide to leave the cheating Frank and go it alone with her two children (Diana Hutchinson and Christopher Ballantyne). The thirtysomething mother turns to study and becomes self reliant as she goes through the traumatic changes in her life. One of the first series to actually explore the woman's point of view and make her the centre of the drama. Links: DVD Availibility: HELLO CHEEKY (1976) Hello Cheeky brought Radio Two's long-running 1970s comedy show to television, featuring the legendary talents of Goodies star Tim Brooke-Taylor, fellow I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue stalwart and comedy writer Barry Cryer, and writer and actor John Junkin; composer Denis King provided musical accompaniment (and frequently became the object of ridicule for the other three). The half-hour shows were pre-recorded in front of a live audience and replicated the original series' trademark mix of preposterous sketches, appalling jokes, raillery and general silliness.

Improvisation abounded, with the occasional blunder retained in an irreverent approach summed up by Cryer as 'Laugh-In without the gloss, only desperation and rot'. A typical show might feature advice on looking after an armadillo, teaching your dog to samba or making your very own space rocket from a yard of lint, an operation on a false moustache, or even a gala dinner with the officers and crew of the Nancie Celeste. The first television series, containing eight episodes, was broadcast between 19 January and 22 March 1976. The second series, containing five episodes, was broadcast between 26 May and 23 June of the same year. (Network DVD). Links: DVD Availibility: THE HEN HOUSE (1964) The Hen House was a one-off 30 minute sitcom broadcast as part of the Comedy Playhouse series on 10 January 1964.

With CP's original writers Alan Simpson and Ray Galton busy creating comedy legend with Steptoe and Son (the first episode of the second series debuted the same week as this Comedy Playhouse offering), it was up to others to pen the one-off sitcoms in the hope that their own offering might lead to a full series. This particular one, written by George Evans and Derek Collyer, didn't-even though it starred Beryl Reid, Barbara Windsor and Dermot Kelly (pictured). The Hen House is a girls' hostel, Khartoum House, where the chances of a quiet bit of courting are as scarce as snowflakes in August. Only on one evening a week are the residents allowed to invite their boyfriends into the lounge-and only then for nice quiet pencil-and-paper games. As for lingering goodnights on the doorstep, they're out of the question. In the eyes of Mrs Teresa Fanwyn (Reid), hostel warden, a single kiss can lead to a postivie porchful of orgy: 'Once men and women get together, they orge...' The only way of fooling the watchful Teresa, it seems, is to instal a TV set in the lounge.

Then, with the lights turned low, the boyfriend evenings could become more interesting all round. Not that the girls have in mind cosy sessions with such programmes as Panorama. The set would be used-to quote Cynthia (Windsor)-'as a back row of the pictures.' But Teresa Fanwyn is anti-television; and it is the efforts of the girls and the janitor-handyman-dogsbody, Edwin (Kelly), the pursuade her to change her mind that provide the farcical flavour of The Hen House. (Based on original Radio Times article). Links: DVD Availibility: THE HERB'S (1968) With the magic word "Herbidacious" the gate to the garden of Sir Basil and Lady Rosemary would open revealing such wonderfully named characters as Dill the Dog, Sage the Owl, Aunt Mint, Tarragon the Dragon, Mr Onion the Schoolteacher and his pupils the Chives, Bayleaf the Gardener, Pashana Bedhi and Belladonna. However, the most famous of them all was a large headed lion by the name of Parsley, who proved such a hit that he was spun off into his own series (The Adventures of Parsley).

Created by Michael 'Paddington Bear' Bond and transmitted in the Watch With Mother slot, the puppet series was directed by Ivor Wood who had previously worked on The Magic Roundabout. Links: DVD Availibility: HERE'S HARRY (1960) Set in the fictional town of Woodbridge, Here's Harry presented the star as a bumbling complainer continually pitted against officialdom in a world that he always seemed to be one step behind. As far as Harry was concerned it was the world that lacked understanding and not him, perfectly summed up by a scene where he attempted to by a rail ticket and asked the ticket-clerk for a return fare. "Where to, sir?" came the reasonable enquiry. To which Harry replied in all innocence; "Well, back here of course." He lived at 52 Acacia Avenue with his cat, Tiddles and his oft-referred to but never seen aunt, Mrs Amelia Prendergast. A semi-regular supporting cast of characters included his housekeeper, Mrs Benson (Doris Gambell) Alf (Joe Gladwin) and Tommy (Reginald Marsh).

Harry Worth was born Harry Illingsworth, in Tankersley, near Barnsley in 1917, and at the age of 14 he went down the mines to work, in spite of the fact that his own father had been killed in a pit accident when Harry was barely a year old. During the Second World War Harry began entertaining his RAF colleagues with whom he was stationed in Burma. On his return to civilian life he borrowed a book on ventriloquism from his local library and decided to become an entertainer. With two dummies (Fotheringay and Clarence) Harry landed his first theatrical date at the Bradford Mechanics Institute in 1946. However, this was by no means the beginning of a runaway success and after failing to get any more professional engagements for some time, he was seriously considering returning to the mines when just in time he was offered a 12 week contract at Southsea. This was his turning point, and in 1948 Harry made his first appearance on BBC radio in New to You.

He continued to find steady work without becoming a major star until 1952, when he found himself on the same variety bill as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who were touring Britain. The two Hollywood legends took an instant shine to Harry and made sure that he was a supporting act on their next British tour (1953-54). This time the comic duo suggested that Harry give up his vent act and go it alone as a stand-up comedian. Harry's first 'solo' performance, in Newcastle, left him a virtual nervous wreck, but his uncertain, almost apologetic style went down so well with the audience that he developed it as part of his act. It was that same act that Harry presented in his first BBC series in 1960 called The Trouble With Harry. Although he continued to appear in numerous TV series right up until 1980, it was Here's Harry for which he is best remembered. The opening credits to the show featuring a trick performed by a shop window that made it look like he was lifting both legs off the floor at the same time was copied by schoolchildren around the British Isles.

The series was so successful that it won Harry the Variety Club of Great Britain Award for BBC-TV Personality of the Year in 1962. Harry continued to work on radio until 1988 and passed away on 20th July 1989. Like a 1960's version of Victor Meldrew, but without the resolutely aggressive attitude and biting edge of knowing social commentary, Here's Harry presented viewers with an exasperatingly endearing and comedic portrait of a social misfit forever tilting unsuccessfully at the monolithically unimpressed windmills of society. (co-writer Stephen R. Hulse). Links: DVD Availibility: HERGES ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (1961) Created in 1929 for the Belgian weekly Le Petit vingti&#233me, Tintin was the creation of Georges R&#233mi, alias Hergé, from his initials "R.G." (as pronounced in French), and became a cult figure around the world.

The famous cub reporter and his dog Snowy (Milou in French) made their TV debut in 1961 in a series of breathless five-minute episodes, complete with cliffhanger endings, and arrived in Britain a year later dubbed into English by Peter Hawkins, who also provided voices for Captain Pugwash and Doctor Who's Daleks. Tintin fought his way through 50 episodes based on the original Hergé books, 5 of which were adapted for the small screen, The Crab With The Golden Claws, Star of Mystery, Red Rakham's Treasure, Black Island, Objective Moon and The Calculus Affair. Amongst Tintin's legion of fans were the U.S. artist Andy Warhol and French president Charles de Gaulle, who said of the comic strip character: "Deep down, my only international rival is Tintin! We are little fellows who won't be had by big fellows." A whole host of characters accompanied Tintin on his adventures, including the grog-swilling Captain Haddock, two inept Scotland Yard detectives -The Thompson Twins (who gave their name to a 1980's pop group), and the audibly challenged Professor Cuthbert Calculus.

In 1986 Tintin and Alpha-Art, the last and unfinished adventure of Tintin was published, three years after the death of Georges R&#233mi. Deceptively complex in both writing and design, despite the illusion cast by the apparent simplicity of Hergé's characters, the world in which Tintin inhabits is a truly original and instantly recognisable creation that has consistently continued to capture the imagination and hearts of young and old world-wide. Although Hergé is no longer with us, the legacy of wonder, excitement and adventure embodied by his iconographic characters, remains to entertain future thrill-seekers of all ages and nationalities. (co-writer Stephen R. Hulse). Links: DVD Availibility: HEROES (2006) Popular cult sci-fi programme shown over four series between 2006 and 2010, Heroes was first aired in America on the NBC network and then in the UK on the Sci-Fi channel. When the BBC caught wind of how big the show could be, it bought the rights and aired the first season again on BBC2. It has since purchased lifetime rights to the programme.

The show follows several individual people with different backgrounds, stories and relationships. The characters are diverse and range from a doctor who falls in love with the daughter of one of his patients, to a cheerleader who is trying to catch the eye of the star football player. All the characters discover they have different special abilities which start to take over their lives. As the show progresses through the first season, the characters' lives become entwined and we start to recognise the heroes from the villains. The heroes must try to stop the world from being destroyed by the leader of The Company, Sylar. At the same time, Sylar is trying to eliminate those with special abilities so that he can steal their powers. The heroes have come across their powers in different ways. Some have been injected with a formula which has given them superhuman abilities, whereas others have always had their powers although they have not been aware of them. The show begins with a lunar eclipse which seems to unlock the powers inside these seemingly ordinary people. As the story unfolds over series one, we learn that a lot of the characters are actually related, and so some of their powers are genetic. The show is created in a way that is supposed to emulate a retro comic book style.

This was never more evident than when the viewer was following the storyline of Hiro Nakamura. Hiro's storyline was literally played out in a comic book which he carried around with him while trying to discover the reason for his power. He regularly referred to his comic book to see what he should do next, or to prove to his friend that he was able to time-travel. His comic book was created by Isaac Mendez who was able to paint the future whilst under the influence of drugs. Other characters with special abilities included self-absorbed politician Nathan Petrelli, who could fly, policeman Matt Parkman, who could read people's minds and troubled single mother Niki Sanders who had multiple personalities with super-strength. Despite the hype over Heroes, the show only really remained popular for the first series. It is easy to see why. Part of the fun of the show was meeting the heroes and trying to work out what their powers were. Then there were the questions that arose as a result of these powers. Was it possible for Claire Bennett to ever die? Was her father a bad-guy or a good-guy? How high could Nathan fly?

However, by series two, we had had most of the questions answered, and we had discovered what the heroes could do. Although new characters were brought in, the mystery surrounding the show had been lost. The show also suffered due to the WGA writer's strike which occurred part way through creating series two. The series was originally supposed to be split into three volumes. In the end it was just one volume. The second volume was dropped completely and the third volume was pushed back to series three. Although the end of series two was changed to allow for this, it meant a lot of the storyline became confusing and a lot of viewers just stopped watching. The show was eventually axed after series 4 due to low audience ratings. The ratings had dipped from 14.3m viewers at its peak in series one on NBC to 6.5m viewers in series four. Series one of the show won lots of television awards and was highly regarded by critics, so it is a shame that it was unable to live up to its own high standards in following series.

However, die-hard Heroes fans are excited to hear that series five is currently being created by the original creator Tim Kring, and is due to show on our television screens in 2015. This should tie up some of the loose ends and unanswered questions left over from series four. (Review: Suzanna Hayes-Goldfinch 2014) DVD Availibility: THE HIGH CHAPARRAL (1967) Created by David Dotort, the man behind television's most famous Western family, the Cartwright's, this series attempted to recreate Bonanza's success by following a similar format. Big John Cannon (Leif Erickson) was the head of The High Chaparral, a ranch in the Arizona Territory that was beset by drought, Mexican outlaws and Cochise Indians. In the first episode John's wife was killed during a raid, leaving him to live with his son Billy Blue Cannon (Mark Slade), and brother Buck (Cameron Mitchell). Big John's widowerhood was short lived though, as he was soon married off to the daughter of Mexican nobleman Don Sebastian Montoya (Frank Silvera) -the beautifully elegant Victoria (Linda Cristal).

Accompanied by his new wife's brother Manolito (Henry Darrow), Big John and the Cannon clan settled in to a series of adventures that reflected the political liberalism of the late 1960's and maintained a sympathetic and well-balanced attitude towards White - Indian relations. When Mark Slade was written out of the series towards the end of its run he was replaced by Wind (Rudy Ramos), a half-breed who came to live with the Cannon's after helping Big John avert a disaster. Although not enjoying the longevity of Bonanza or many other TV Westerns, (the genre had, by the early 1970's, become a television diet of the past), The High Chaparral came across as a highly polished product that included a stirring theme tune and stylish photography. In the UK it was one of the first series to be broadcast in colour.

Links: DVD Availibility: HIGHWAY PATROL (1955) Starring Hollywood Oscar winner Broderick Crawford as Chief Dan Mathews, Highway Patrol is today seen as the father of the TV Cop show genre with it's all-action storylines involving the pursuit of murderers, bank robbers, smugglers and hijackers, by car, bike or helicopter across the highways and byways of the Western United States. Made on a shoestring budget and starring no other regulars apart from the star himself (who was also a part-owner in the production company that made the series, Ziv TV), the series was a massive hit around the world. In Italy it was known as Policia Della Strode, in Spain -Petrulla de Seguridad and by various other titles in twenty other countries. Its most enduring legacy was the introduction to the phrase 'Ten-Four', meaning 'message received and understood.' Crawford, a Californian, had begun his career in the 1930's playing tough gangster roles and won his Best Actor Oscar in 1949 for All The King's Men, plus a special critics award for Of Mice and Men.

He insisted on doing most of his own stunt work and as a result of this incurred a number of injuries, as he explained in 1958. "Running around filming in helicopters and fast cars for three years you're bound to have accidents, and I've certainly had my share. So far I've fractured my skull, broken an arm and an ankle and taken hundreds of falls." The series ran from 1955 to 1958 and at the end of its run Crawford secured the lead in King of Diamonds and later in The Interns before popping up as a guest star in Get Smart, Burke's Law and Fantasy Island, to name a few. Links: DVD Availibility: HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN (1984) After playing Little Joe on Bonanza and patriarch Charles Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, Michael Landon's third series for NBC placed him in the unusual role of an angel. But it wasn't a stretch for the man who was beloved by millions of viewers-and despite the network's misgivings, Highway To Heaven became a success.

Landon (who also produced the series) starred as Jonathan Smith, an angel placed on "probation" and sent down to Earth to help others. Each week Jonathan and his human friend Mark Gordon (Victor French) received their marching orders from God (also known as "The Boss") to help people assert their good natures in the face of adversity. Highway to Heaven dealt gently with illness, money, prejudice, sometimes using humour to help turn situations around. A number of guest stars populated the stories, including Landon's former Bonanza dad, Lorne Greene, who appeared in a 1985 episode. Getting the series on the air was a miracle in itself. Brandon Tartikoff, NBC's head programmer, allowed Landon to write a pilot script and film an episode.

Landon told Tartikoff he wanted to "play an angel of God who comes down each week and changes somebody's life, just like Clarence did for Jimmy Stewart (in the 1946 Frank Capra classic film It's A Wonderful Life)." When the finished pilot arrived at NBC, some jaded executives referred to the project as "Jesus of Malibu." They argued against buying the show, but NBC had a series commitment with Landon-and passing on the series would cost the network millions of dollars. So Tartikoff asked for a tape of the pilot, and took it with him for a visit with his parents and family. In his autobiography, the late NBC programmer wrote how he put the tape in the VCR when his wife's father came into the room: "At six o'clock we were called to dinner. I got up; he stayed. 'Where's Jack?' everyone was saying.

That was my first indication that we jaded TV executives might not be the best judges of Landon's show." Tartikoff was right: The pilot, which aired in the fall of 1984, was an instant hit-and ran for five seasons, paving the way for other series with angelic themes, including Touched By An Angel. In June 1989, Victor French died of lung cancer. Landon went on to produce a new series-this time for CBS-called Us. Sadly, just the pilot was produced before he died of pancreatic cancer in July 1991. But supporters of family-friendly television drama had no greater champion than Michael Landon. (Mike Spadoni). Links: DVD Availibility: HILL STREET BLUES (1981) Created by talented producer/writer Steven Bochco in tandem with Michael Kozoll, the series chronicled the busy, eventful and often outright dangerous professional and private lives of the officers who worked out of the aging, dilapidated, Hill Street Stationhouse in a run down district of an unnamed eastern city of the United States (exterior scenes were shot in Chicago).

However, in spite of becoming arguably the most influential 'Cop Show' of the 80's, Hill Street Blues was not an instant hit with the viewing public. The series premiered on the NBC network on 15th January 1981 to a critical reaction which ranged from the indifferent to the outright hostile, and then proceeded during its initial year to both narrowly avoid cancellation and gain the dubious honour of being the lowest-rated prime-time show (a lowly sixty-six out of a possible sixty-nine in the all powerful Nielsen rankings), ever to be renewed. From this somewhat less than auspicious start, the series remarkably went on to 145 episodes and seven seasons of innovative, quality, groundbreaking police action. Employing one of the largest and most talented casts ever assembled for a single series at the time, Bochco and his team of writers wove a richly complex tapestry which pushed the accepted envelope of traditional U.S. television story-telling techniques far beyond what had until then been perceived as "viewer friendly", to astonishingly successful effect.

Swimming against the tide of accepted wisdom, the show blasted the tenet that the average viewer was unable to keep up with more than half a dozen characters in any one episode, by blithely presenting at various times more than two dozen core and recurring characters. The belief that an audience found it impossible to follow more than one or two main plot lines at a time within an average episode also fell by the wayside, as the series presented its audience with six or eight in a single episode, deftly overlapping plots and drawing other story strands across the course of multiple episodes in mini story arcs. Bochco's use of sound was also as forceful and unconventional. Hill Street was a very noisy station in a very realistically noisy city. The staff at Hill Street included Captain Frank Furillo, the quietly spoken but firm commander whose own private life was in a state of turmoil as he struggled to cope with his ex-wife and her alimony demands. Eventually his affair with defence attorney Joyce Davenport turned into marriage even though, professionally, they remained adversaries. Under Furillo served Sgt Phil Esterhaus, but when actor Michael Conrad died three years into the run, Sgt. Stan Jablonski replaced him.

Other characters included Hispanic second-in-command Ray Calletano, trigger-happy SWAT squad lieutenant Howard Hunter, scruffy undercover detective Mick Belker, and tooth-pick chewing Neal Washington with his alcoholic partner J.D. LaRue. Despite the series poor performance during its first season, it was nevertheless renewed. Although still suffering from a dangerously low profile, the show nonetheless swept the prestigious Emmy Awards that year, gaining a total of twenty-one nominations and netting an impressive total of eight awards, setting a new record for the most Emmy awards for a prime-time show in one year, including Outstanding Drama Series.

In a recent interview Bochco noted with some irony: "At the 1981 Emmy awards, there was a whole bunch of us sitting together, and every time one of us got an award we'd all stand up and yell, and everyone was trying to figure out who we were because no one knew what Hill Street Blues was." But the production team's faith in the series wasn't misplaced, and their creative risks began to pay off as the show began to acquire both critical acclaim and ever increasing viewer popularity, a continuing popularity which would see it go on to scoop the Emmy award for Outstanding Drama Series during its first four seasons, the only series to achieve such an outstanding accolade. Indeed, by the end of its full seven season run, the production gained a staggering ninety-eight Emmy nominations and twenty-six actual awards, an achievement eclipsed only by Cheers with twenty-seven and the legendary Mary Tyler Moore Show with twenty-nine awards. Added to this list was composer Mike Post and Larry Carlton's theme music for the series securing the number ten in the coveted Billboard Magazine list of Top TV Theme Songs in November 1981.

With outstanding performances across the board, coupled to scripts and story-lines which were realistic, gritty and laced liberally with an ever present undercurrent of dark, sophisticated humour, Hill Street Blues rewrote the book for the depiction of police television drama on prime time U.S. TV, and in its influential wake would follow such accomplished crime drama's as Bochco's own NYPD Blue and Murder One. Breathtakingly fast paced, mature, tough, brutal and uncompromising, Hill Street Blues was a triumph of intelligence and substance over the narrow-minded and conservative complacency, which had dominated network series crime drama output for decades. The series' best remembered catchphrase might well have been "And let's be careful out there." But luckily for both the viewing audience and television drama as a whole, Hill Street Blue's pointedly ignored its own advice. (Review: Stephen R. Hulse) Links:

Question: In the children's TV series, 1968-1970, whose best friends were Zaza the cat, and Mrs. Kiki the frog?
Answer: Hector's